1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game device for playing a card game, a computer-readable storage medium for storing the aforementioned card game, and an image display device for displaying images of the card game.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a wide variety of card games which involve various different cards and rules have been enjoyed by a wide range of men and women of all ages and these card games remain popular. Recently, a new card game has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,332 (hereinafter, called the reference). Specifically, the reference discloses a game which is played among players by preparing a plurality of cards having mutually different attributes and capabilities and by competing with one another so as to reduce the life points (LP) score of their opponent to zero.
Moreover, in the reference described above, it is also suggested that the card game can be programmed into a computer and played on the computer.
However, since the aforementioned card game involves many cards having different attributes, capabilities, and the like, and the rules of the game are complex for both adults and children, the card game is very popular among game mania who are experts for the card game but can not simply be enjoyed by anyone. Therefore, if the aforementioned card game were to be realized by a program for a game device, this would be unlikely to produce an increase in demand for the card game. In other words, if the card game were to be implemented by means of a computer program, then this would involve the major task of simplifying the rules, and the like, in some way, whilst maintaining the essential attraction of the game.
On the other hand, the present inventors, and others, have proposed a game device for playing, in a simple and enjoyable manner, a card game wherein different attributes and capabilities are assigned to various cards, and these cards are used by the players to reduce the life points (LP) score of their opponent, and a storage medium for storing software for implementing the aforementioned card game. The card game relating to this proposal (hereinafter, called the xe2x80x98old card gamexe2x80x99) was simple for beginners and children to learn, and also attracted considerable demand as part of a game craze, thus receiving significant popularity across a wide range of people.
However, in order to prevent the aforementioned game from becoming out-of-date and also to attract the interest and attention of more customers, it has been necessary to develop the card game further. When the card game is developed in this way, it is necessary also to take into account compatibility with the old card game proposed previously.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a game device for implementing a card game (hereinafter, called the xe2x80x98new card gamexe2x80x99), wherein an old card game proposed previously can be developed further and more people can be attracted to the game.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a game device whereby, in order to develop the card game, the relative strengths of the respective cards are determined by adding further conditions, rather than simply applying a differential to the points assigned to each card.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a game device whereby the cards are categorized into a plurality of groups and the relative strengths of the various groups are determined in a continuous fashion.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a game device whereby modifications can be made to the cards by means of external communication.
It is a further, object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a program whereby a new card game can be implemented.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a storage device for storing data specific to a new card game.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an image display device for displaying images specific to a new card game.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a game device for use in executing a card game between a player and an opponent on a screen by placing cards with predetermined capabilities. The game device executes the card game by displaying a state wherein the cards of the player and the opponent are arranged face downwards on the same screen, by confirming only the cards of the player by turning them face upwards in the state without being recognized by the opponent, and by setting mutually different competition environments.
The cards are given, as environment capability index data, capability indices representing a capability which changes according to said competition environments and are divided into a plurality of groups having mutual strength differential relationships.
The game device comprises means for storing said environment capability index data of the cards together with the groups of the cards, judgement means for judging the strength differential relationship between the groups and judging win or loss between cards on the basis of said environment capability indices, when the win or the loss can not be judged from the strength differential relationship between groups, executing means for executing said card game on the basis of the judgements made by said judgement means, display means for displaying said card game, and input means for inputting instructions required for said card game.
In this case, the strength differential relationships between the plurality of groups are determined in a continuous and cyclical manner such that each group displays superiority over one of the other groups, and displays inferiority to another one of the groups.
In this way, in the present invention, it is possible to increase the variation involved in win or loss judgement in the card game, by dividing cards into groups having strength differential relationships, rather than simply altering the capability index data for each card according to the respective competition, and hence the interest created by the card game can be further enhanced.
Moreover, a further embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a card game wherein players compete by playing cards having respectively designated capabilities, comprising: a step for setting mutually different competition environments, setting capability indices for each of said cards representing a capability which changes according to said competition environments, as environment capability index data, and storing said environment capability index data, dividing said cards into a plurality of groups having mutual strength differential relationships and storing said groups, judging the strength differential relationship between groups, and judging win or loss between cards on the basis of said environment capability indices, in cases where judgement of the strength differential relationship between groups does not apply; and a step for implementing said card game on the basis of the judgements made by said judgement means. In this case, the storage medium comprises storing means for storing information representing groups of said cards. By dividing the cards into groups having strength differential relationships in this way, it is possible to add further interest to the card game, compared to cases where win or loss is determined according to capability indices only.
Here, the storage means comprises a region for storing cards used normally and a special card region for storing special cards, and said program is composed in such a manner that it can only access the special card region in response to a specific combination of said cards.
By adopting this composition, it is possible to acquire cards which cannot be obtained during a normal game, by inputting an identification code from an external source. Moreover, by making it possible to exchange cards with another game device by means of communication, it becomes possible to maintain compatibility with other game devices, and rather than exchanging cards on a one-for-one basis, it is possible to exchange cards in various different ways, such as a several-to-one basis, or a one-to-several basis, or the like.
A further embodiment of the present invention provides a game device whereby game characters forming an opponent can be selected by the player, comprising a particular character storage region for storing particular characters which can be selected, when a predetermined code is supplied from an external source, and means for executing said game by accessing said particular character storage region when said predetermined code is input. Thereby, it is possible to enjoy a contest with a particular character which cannot be competed against in a normal game. Moreover, if the game is a card game, then the cards obtained during the contest with the particular character are different from the cards obtained during a contest with another character, and therefore the player""s interest in his or her collection of cards is further enhanced.